Recovery...as this drunk sees it #1

"The cost of living has gone up another dollar 

a quart." 
~ W. C. Fields

The first word that needs to be understood 

before anyone  can even begin to deal with 

an addict/alcoholic is:

Denial....

D - don't 
E - even 
N -no (know)
I - I 
A - am 
L - lying

How can you tell when an alcoholic is lying?? 
- His lips are moving.

   Most people are good, moral, upstanding individuals who know the difference between right and wrong. Under the influence, alcoholics forget everything that has to do with making the right choice and they go into a survival mode. If it takes lying, cheating and stealing to get more of the substance that their bodies crave, they will do what they must to get it. The denial system of survival set up by the sick and suffering may and usually involves and affects everyone around them.
   Those who allow (or refuse to admit) the alcoholics immoral behaviors become the enablers of the addict/alcoholic. Enablers, (husband, wives, parents, bosses, friends? employers, significant others) 
are in themselves very sick and need education or treatment just as badly as the alcoholic.

   Rehabilitation means to return an individual back to a sane and normal moral existence.

   During the rehabilitation process education means to discover those behaviors that are destructive to the alcoholic and those around him, and compare them to the behaviors that are acceptable. 
Treatment is the series of exercises and activities suggested to change the identified negative behaviors into acceptable ones.
   After the in-patient treatment, most good rehab facilities will have a new lifestyle plan for the client to put into place upon their release from the facility. This next phase of recovery is a topic for future posts.
   One drink for the alcoholic who is trying to rehabilitate themselves means a total destruction of any progress that may have been made towards the return to a normalized behavior pattern. Often, a relapse by an addict/alcoholic, may add insult to injury. The affected has, by relapsing, added additional guilt and shame to their already diminished egos.Treatment for the relapsed addict/alcoholic (a client who has completed at least one prior stay at a 28 day facility) is a totally different and specific entity in the rehab/treatment field. Some of the more prominent rehabilitation centers in the United States have separate satellite locations or separate on campus facilities specifically assigned to relapse clients.

   Rehab, education, and treatment are to no avail if the affected do not cooperate.

   You can tell a drunk, but you can't tell him much.

   Although this article is addressed to the Addict/Alcoholic, most of the attitudes and behaviors described can be attributed to those who suffer from addictive personalities. It is not what substance one uses, but how they abuse the substance. Gambling, food, sex, workaholic, or any other obsessive compulsive behavior that cause an individual to neglect normal responsibilities or make improper moral judgements, are included in the treatable realm of addictive disorders. 
   Many rehabilitation centers are exclusive to one type of addiction or to a select few addictions that they deem to be equally well treated by their program. 
   Be aware that some of the addictions may be better treated in a clinic situation . Sex and Love addicts and the dual diagnosed usually do better when they are in controlled therapy sessions (Self-help programs) in addition to their twelve step program work. Many self help meetings are not advertised the way AA meetings are publicly scheduled and may need to be sought out by seeking professional guidance. This secrecy is not to hide from public scrutiny to avoid the social stigma, it is done to keep sexual predators and untreated deviates from stalking the vulnerable individuals who need to attend the meetings. Doctors and lawyers have a referral system they use to keep their self help meetings limited to only those in their profession. This type of activity is against the traditions of AA, however, this type of exclusivity only helps to underscore the negative stigma that alcoholism has in the general society.

The following link is to one of the most highly recommended Drug and Alcohol treatment centers in theUnited States. This facility is located in the eastern mid-Atlantic states area.
http://www.fathermartinsashley.com

Happiness is helping someone help themselves.

Michael_e

Satisfaction

To pay the piper for the mindless actions,

the abuse of the body, and the torment of the soul,

caused by those wrongs we have done.

 Satisfaction is the payment of a penance

for the sins we commit.

 To the mind that thinks "it's all about me",

the mental hangover is the guilt and shame

caused by being selfish and self centered. 

To the body that abuses drugs, alcohol and food

the physical hangover is a warning  of pending doom.

 To the soul that must tolerate the mental and physical abuses, the hopelessness feels

like that of one who is adrift in the middle of an ocean on a raft with no sails or rudder.

 Forgive yourself and make the changes required to begin a better life.

  "It is of practical value to learn to like yourself. 
Since you must spend so much time with yourself 
you might as well get some satisfaction 
out of the relationship."   ~  Norman Vincent Peale

 Make restitution to others, one can not have committed mental and physical abuses

on ones self without hurting the family and friends who love us.

 Seek atonement from your Higher Power by doing the will of your Higher Power

from now and forever.

Your Higher Power has already forgiven you for all of your trespasses and your abuses.

Yesterday is history, what are you doing for yourself, others and your Higher Power , right now.

"There are some days when I think I'm going to die 
 from an overdose of satisfaction."                          ~ Salvador Dali

 Be kind, satisfaction being paid in advance. Be loving, satisfaction reciprocated.

 Be tolerant and patient, repayment of some abuses may take more than day or two.

 For those who cannot be satisfied by your efforts to do the next right thing, pray for them.

 Be the person your Higher Power wants you to be and know that satisfaction can also

be the fulfillment of a want or need.

 When you have peace of mind, improved health, and an ever increasing flow of spiritual energy,

you will have paid the piper.

Happiness is being satisfied.

Happiness is helping someone help themselves.

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ME and the Boss

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Blonde Jokes

Q: Why did the blonde write “TGIF” on her shoes?

A: Toes Go In First

It is not funny;

it is degrading, humiliating, insensitive, crude, rude and obnoxious,       

and I did it because I received my self esteem by putting others down.

Racial, ethnic, crippled or blind, the jokes were designed

to make sure that you did not look at the true me.

I could not stand to look at the real me, how could I expect a stranger to like the person who did not fit in, who was not good enough, who was different, who had too many skeletons hiding in the closet.

The grandiose psyche, the pretend persona, the false façade, the good time Charlie who commanded the prime seat at the end of the bar and was the ring leader of all stupid conversations, the conversations that cured all of the ills in this world, and yet, I was still the loneliest person on this Earth.

Today, I no longer need to tell jokes.

God has shown me that the joke was on me.

The joke is I have a disease and I allowed my powerlessness over that disease to warp my conscious and unconscious thoughts, my self esteem and my perception of the world.

Today I no longer need to be lonely because there is a fellowship of other recovering alcoholics and addicts who support the true and honest me.

My God does not make any junk.

The road I traveled from drunk to recovered is my experience, strength and hope that I share with others who suffer from the same disease.

Today, if I follow the path of my loving Higher Power, the road is always paved with kindness and love and I know that God has a place for me to fit in, I am good enough to do His will, my uniqueness is not terminal, and the skeletons have been removed from the closet, by the grace of God.

No joke.

Laugh, love, dance, sing and enjoy life the way God meant it to be.

Happiness is helping someone help themselves.

Michael_e